Supermajors Are Abandoning This Oil Hotspot

Oil majors are quitting two projects in the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan because of high costs and low profitability, a unit of Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas firm KazMunayGas said on Monday. Shell has decided to pull out of the Khazar field, and the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) consortium—of which Shell is a part—is quitting the Kalamkas project, according to Kazakhstan’s energy ministry. Shell has already invested US$900 million in the Khazar project, but has faced challenging economics amid high investments.  …